A former soldier left his ex-wife 'completely broken' after committing a cruel scam. Daniel Fairfield, 33, took out a huge loan under the name of his former partner, without her knowing anything about the £20,0000 sum.
The 33-year-old left his estranged wife with years of misery as she was forced to work to rectify the damage to her credit rating. Hull Crown Court heard that the scammed money was spent by the ex-soldier on health treatment, purchases from Amazon and Carphone Warehouse and for paying off debts.
Hull Live reports that Fairfield Hull admitted to fraud on April 21, 2021. In court, Holly Thompson, prosecuting, said that the couple were married for about 14 years but their relationship deteriorated and they separated.
Following the split, the 34-year-old received notifications that her social media profiles had been accessed. She also received a letter from a loans company about a £20,000 agreement.
"She had not applied for any money," said Miss Thompson. The woman then called the loans company to query the matter and was advised to contact the police.
The woman later said: "The whole separation process has left me feeling completely broken. He [Fairfield] should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and I hope that he will leave me to get on with my life without him in it.
"I had to contact numerous companies by email and phone to try to sort out my credit rating. Almost two years on, it is still ongoing.
"I do not need this added pain. I am looking forward to rebuilding my life without having this hanging over me any more."
The couple had a decree nisi but not a decree absolute for their divorce. There was due to be a hearing in March.
The woman claims she had no contact with Fairfield now apart from through solicitors. She had received no acknowledgement of regret from him, adding: "I haven't spoken to him for two years."
Stephen Robinson, mitigating, said: "He accepts that the money went to him from that account. It has virtually all gone and has been spent.
"None of it was spent by his wife. The defendant wants to repay it and it looks like he will be able to in the future."
Fairfield had served in the army previously, including in Afghanistan, but he was not working now. He had no previous convictions.
Judge Mark Bury told Fairfield: "This was a selfish offence because you were thinking only of yourself. Although your wife hasn't lost out financially – it's the loan company that have – she has been put through a fair degree of misery trying to sort out her own credit rating, which has taken some time."
Fairfield was given a six-month suspended prison sentence and was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £20,012 compensation within six months – to come from his share of any sale of the couple's former house.
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